Students in the Kent State Fashion Design and Merchandising program enjoy the evening's festivities in the Kent Student Center Ballroom.

A view of one portion of the Katharine Hepburn exhibition that opens Oct. 2 at the Kent State University Museum.

Robert Osborne, host of Turner Classic Movies, recalls a memory of Katharine Hepburn during the dinner portion of the Kent State University "25 Years of Dazzle" celebration.

Guests attending the "25 Years of Dazzle" celebration preview the Katharine Hepburn exhibition in the Kent State University Museum.

Jean Druesedow, director of the Kent State University Museum, Hollywood legend Ann Rutherford and Shawn Gordon enjoy the "25 Years of Dazzle" dinner in the Kent State Ballroom.

Fashion designer and Kent State graduate Linda Allard, Kent State President Lester A. Lefton and Linda Lefton share a laugh during the reception for the Kent State University Museum's 25th anniversary gala.

President Lester Lefton and wife, Linda, meet Robert Osborne, host of Turner Classic Movies, during the reception for the 25th anniversary celebration of the Kent State University Museum.

Katharine Hepburn Exhibition Debuts

After a series of sold-out pre-opening events and the 25 Years of Dazzle gala celebrating the museum’s 25th anniversary, the Kent State University Museum opens its highly anticipated exhibition Katharine Hepburn: Dressed for Stage and Screen on Oct. 2, 2010, making its world premiere. The new exhibit, which closes Sept. 4, 2011, showcases the screen legend’s performance clothes, which include stage and film costumes spanning Katharine Hepburn’s career, as well as apparel she wore for publicity purposes.

Hepburn is universally recognized among the greatest actresses of all time. She was nominated by the Motion Picture Academy a record 12 times in the best leading actress category and won four Oscars – for “Morning Glory” (1933), “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner” (1967), “The Lion In Winter” (1968) and “On Golden Pond” (1981). This record has never been equaled.

“Katharine Hepburn has had a profound impact on American popular culture and fashion, and she has influenced generations of women,” said Jean Druesedow, director of the Kent State University Museum and curator of the exhibit.

“On screen and off, she epitomized the modern American woman – smart, independent, active, honest, feisty, and outspoken. In terms of fashion, Katharine Hepburn blazed trails by popularizing slacks for women, wearing or adapting men’s suits as women’s apparel, and helping internationalize what is now called ‘The American Style.’”

The museum acquired Hepburn’s performance clothes in 2008 from the star’s estate. Before her death in 2003, she had made clear her collection of performance clothes should be given to an educational institution instead of being sold at auction. The Kent State University Museum is accredited by the American Association of Museums and is known internationally for its costume and fashion collections. The result is a perfect fit.

Though the collection’s ownership is indisputable – they were literally hanging in Hepburn’s closets – the museum had to correctly identify which movie or play the garments came from since they were untagged. Movie frames, stage stills and publicity shots of Hepburn have helped immensely and will be displayed alongside the costumes.

As the title of the exhibition suggests, the costumes will be presented according to genre, with “screen” including film and television. A series of Hepburn’s iconic beige trousers, linen vests and tailored jackets will be placed as guideposts through the exhibit. Highlights include:

Stage costumes from “The Philadelphia Story” and “Without Love,” as well as later Broadway shows “Coco,” “West Side Waltz” and “A Matter of Gravity.”

Costumes worn in many of her later television movies, including her Emmy-nominated performance as the title character in “Mrs. Delafield Wants to Marry” as well as her Emmy-winning performance in “Love Among the Ruins.”

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